Harry Fox has an online interface called Songfile that expedites mechanical licensing for those who want to make up to 2500 copies of a song. Songfile is a database of titles and artists that allows click-through registration of titles through Harry Fox.

The minimum number of copies that the agency works with is 500. So even though there is only an $8 - $10 processing fee charged per song, Harry Fox pre-calculates the sale of 500 copies of each title (royalties due the artist) to be paid in advance and this generally works out to be between $45 and $50 per title.

Here is a list of things that Harry Fox does and does not do:

HFA provides the following services to its affiliated publishers:

• Issues mechanical licenses
• Collects mechanical royalties
• Distributes mechanical royalties, and synchronization fees for licenses granted prior to 2002.
• Conducts royalty examinations
• Investigates and negotiates new business opportunities
• Pursues piracy claims

HFA does not:

• Issue licenses for the use of music in advertising, movies, and TV programs (aka synchronization licensing or "synch"). Service was discontinued in 2002.
• Represent songwriters and publishers for the placement of their music in films and for use by other performers.
• Administer performance rights - The right to play or perform the music in a public setting such as a restaurant, concert halls, radio station, or nightclub.
• Issue print rights - the rights to change the lyrics, or to publish them in printed form.
• Issue master use rights - the right to use an original artist recording.
• Provide clearance for the use of samples.

So if you are a musician who wants to record some covers of someone else's tunes, grab a credit card and your list of songs and go to Harry Fox Agency to begin the mechanical licensing process.

There is a wealth of information available at the site. But to get started right away, click on the red link that says HFA Songfile.

 
Notice that there are three violet-color buttons. One says Songfile Login, one says Register Now and the third says Public Search. The Public Search allows anyone – registered or not – access to the song title databank.

Sometimes it is helpful to research the availability of song titles first to make sure the artist is represented by Harry Fox. Or, you may find that after entering a title of a song, that there are several different artists listed with songs of the same name. You may not even actually know the name of the artist who wrote the song you want to use . Here is where some additional research may be needed.
 
But for our purposes, let's click on the Register Now button.

Accept the conditions and click on Continue.

 
Fill out the registration information and click Next.

 
Here you will be asked to review your registration information and be given the opportunity to edit.

So, click the Login button.

 
Enter your username and password that you just created.

 
Click on New License Search.

 
Since we are a small recording label, and maybe plan to give away 20 CDs to relatives and sell 5 to friends…our only option is to choose 500 copies since this is the minimum that Harry Fox works with. (In another area, we will pursue the possibilities of obtaining song permissions through the US Copyright Office which will allow smaller numbers but requires much more effort).

Click Next.

 
Just for the fun of it, let's enter “Sunny”, a sixties tune that was heard on the radio 24/7 many moons ago.

We've entered the title without knowing the name of the song writer. And, clicking the Search button…

 
We see that there are many songs named “Sunny” with a variety of different artists. I happen to know that the artist I'm looking for is Bobby Herb. So I'll click on that entry.

 
Here I find the artist's publisher and it indicates that the artist is represented by HFA for Songfile. And if I want to obtain the mechanical licensing rights for this song, I would click the Add to Cart button, proceed to checkout, give my credit cart information and receive the licensing within 24 hours.

 
But, if the artist is not represented by HFA, it will look something like this:

 
And by clicking on the song title “Are You Experienced” we receive the publisher information who we can contact directly to request permissions.

 
So there you have it.

A quick tour on how to obtain permission to use songs written by other artists in quantities from 500 to 2500 using the HFA Songfile.

If you wish to publish more than 2500 songs, you will find alternate instructions on the front page of the HFA website. But this guide is for the little label. We hope it helps.